Of cabbages and kings

[Karen Wilson]

     This is idle curiosity but:
     Has anyone ever come up with an explanation, serious or otherwise, of
     why so many biologists quote Lewis Carroll in their papers?? I am
     preparing a review paper at the moment and have been struck by how
     often 'Alice in Wonderland' or 'The hunting of the snark' are quoted
     in papers from the last 25 years. These papers are mainly in botany
     and taxonomic botany at that - is this some obsession of such
     botanists? Or does it occur in other biologists (or indeed amongst
     workers in other fields of science)?

     Yours in talking of many things,

     Karen Wilson

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          Karen L. Wilson
          Royal Botanic Gardens               E-mail: karen at rbgsyd.gov.au
          Mrs Macquaries Road                          Fax: 61-2-251.7231
          SYDNEY  NSW 2000,  AUSTRALIA               Phone: 61-2-231.8137